NEW YORK, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Telcos now have a large opportunity to aggregate software as a service (SaaS) applications so that enterprises can go one-stop-shopping for all their SaaS needs, but competition from independent software vendors (ISVs) and other cloud computing providers will force telcos to act quickly or risk losing out on this emerging sector altogether, according to the latest report from Light Reading's Services Software Insider (www.lightreading.com/servsoftware), a paid research service of TechWeb's Light Reading (www.lightreading.com).

The Race for SaaS: Do Telcos Have Their Heads in the Right Clouds? examines the different SaaS strategies open to network operators and the competition they face from ISVs and other cloud providers. It analyzes the trade-offs telcos must make between getting to market quickly using a third-party SaaS aggregation and delivery platform and creating value-added differentiation by building their own platform. It also evaluates the advantages of augmenting an SaaS offer with a platform as a service (PaaS) and even business process as a service (BPaaS), and analyzes the telco SaaS propositions from 11 leading technology suppliers.

For a list of companies analyzed in this report, http://img.lightreading.com/ssi/pdf/ssi1209companies.pdf

"There is growing telco interest in launching an SaaS proposition, and several companies are launching SaaS aggregation platforms, with or without a complementary PaaS capability," says Caroline Chappell, research analyst with Light Reading's Services Software Insider and author of the report. "The majority of telcos are still evaluating the role they can play in the emerging SaaS market and how SaaS fits into a broader cloud computing context."

Telcos that build their own platforms will control their own cloud destinies, but that strategy will take longer to get to market, Chappell notes. "On the other hand, telcos undergoing operations/business support system (OSS/BSS) transformation and service delivery platform (SDP) implementations are well placed to extend these programs to support SaaS," she says. "In the spirit of the cloud, telcos looking to provide cloud services should investigate whether they can use cloud-based versions of transformational technologies."

Other key findings of The Race for SaaS: Do Telcos Have Their Heads in the Right Clouds? include:

• The majority of telcos are evaluating their role in the SaaS market, and innovative approaches are appearing from some operators.
• SaaS vendors urgently need to clarify their propositions and their relevance to telcos.
• Operators must ensure that their SaaS aggregation platforms are open and interoperable with ISV SaaS clouds as different interests jostle for position in the emerging SaaS value chain.
• Telcos need to decide whether to extend SaaS with PaaS and even business processes as a service to differentiate their SaaS ecosystems.
• In the future, telcos may build their SaaS platforms from cloud-based elements such as IBM's proposed SDP in the cloud.

The Race for SaaS: Do Telcos Have Their Heads in the Right Clouds? is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (six issues) to Light Reading's Services Software Insider, priced at $1,295. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).

To subscribe, or for more information, please visit: www.lightreading.com/servsoftware. For more information on all of Light Reading's Insider services, please visit www.lightreading.com/research.

To request a free executive summary of the report, or for details on multi-user licensing options, please contact:

Jeff Claudino
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claudino@lightreading.com

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Dennis Mendyk
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mendyk@heavyreading.com

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

* 13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists - with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

SOURCE Light Reading's Services Software Insider